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Environment and Natural Resources

As the world contends with swelling populations and an unpredictable, changing climate, the pressures on scarce natural resources are mounting. Demand for water for household, industrial, and agricultural uses is growing, while the functioning and quality of watersheds and irrigated land are deteriorating. Desertification, deforestation, overgrazing, salinization, and soil erosion are increasing as well—especially in developing countries. As a result, precious natural resources—from fertile soil to freshwater streams—are rapidly diminishing, resulting in devastating impacts on the poor, who rely on such resources to generate most of their income and subsistence goods. IFPRI’s research on such issues such as land management, water policy, land degradation, and water resource allocation promotes poverty reduction through more productive, equitable, and sustainable use of resources in developing countries.

Publications

This paper explores the impacts of a water right's allocative priority—as an indicator of farmers' risk-bearing ability—on land irrigation under water supply uncertainty. We develop and use an economic model to simulate farmers' land irrigation…

GIS dataset for constructing three-dimensional Development Domain for ASARECA's operation area in 12 East and Central Africa countries. Data layers of market accessibility, agricultural potential, and population density of 2010 at 5 arc-minute…

Related Events

A meeting was held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire April 4 and 5, 2017, co-hosted by IFPRI and AfricaRice, to strengthen linkages and forge stronger partnerships around new ideas, tools and technologies that contribute to developments in agricultural…

Round 2 of the Technology Assessments and Platforms: Tools and Reach in Africa – A Partner’s Meeting took place on ILRI’s Nairobi campus, December 1 and 2, 2016. The meeting was co-hosted by the S&T Partnerships in Africa Program from IFPRI and the…

Programs & Projects

Cultivating Science in Agriculture through Partnerships The Scientific and Technical Partnerships in Africa program was designed to develop and enhance stronger integration between partnerships, research and analysis in support of the Comprehensive…

What is the challenge? Agricultural land and other natural resources in agricultural landscapes are important sources of ecological services and goods that the rural poor rely on. So far, limited empirical evidence exists to show how ecosystem…